Heavenly work

Thought it be fraught with frustrations and insurmountable limitations here in this decaying society and sin ridden world, Work is glorious. It was the purpose of God for mankind to work, and done according to His statutes, God promised to bless it, and to give His abundance thereby.  “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely.  The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely," Lev. 25:18-19.
Over and again I've heard statements and even promises about what heaven will be like, and rarely do they include any work. More often I hear "We'll get to rest as much as we want," "People will just be sitting on clouds, playing harps," "We won't have to do any thing hard" and the like. Our time there (if I can use that turn of phrase about eternity) will not be for our own use, but for the unending glory of God. Just as our works here are to give Him praise, as well as our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, we will be created afresh to use the gifts He gives without being hampered by sin and selfish ambition; and it will please Him.
Speaking of heaven with no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain Rushdoony wrote:

What work means in those circumstances is beyond our imagination. We can only dimly guess at it. It will be the unfettered application by man of his dominion under God to creation. It will be the unfrustrated and untainted energy of man applied to creation. It will be man's joyful expression of himself, of the form of the image of God within him, in  terms of his own particular calling and nature. Thus, the new creation, contrary to popular myths, will have very few harpists more than it has now; it will have many of us finding our truest calling in a new world.

R.J.Rusdoony; Revolt Against Maturity, p. 303 Thoburn Press 1977

Mother, Home, and Heaven

 "It has been said that the sweetest words in our language are 'Mother, Home, and Heaven;' and one might almost say the word 'home' included them all; for who can think of home without remembering the gentle mother who sanctified it by her presence? And is not home the dearest name for heaven? We think of that better land as a home where brightness will never end in night. Oh, then, may our homes on earth be the centers of all our joys; may they be as green spots in the desert, to which we can retire when weary of the cares and perplexities of life, and drink the clear waters of a love which we know to be sincere and always unfailing."

~Saturday Evening Post late 1800's issue

Corrie ten Boom

She was a simple, humble watchmaker, used in amazing ways; a humble woman who comforted the feeble minded, the lost, the prisoners, with the wonderful story of God's ultimate love. She knew she was a weak sinner, who relied solely on God's strength and provision. She who had lost much, had been hurt much, wronged and insulted, learned how to forgive atrocities felt first hand, that we shudder in horror to think of half a century later. She will take no credit for herself, but gives, with true honesty, all glory to God.


In her book, Not Good if Detached, Corrie ten Boom describes how a ticket stub is not valid if detached from the ticket; just so, we are useless if detached from the Vine. (I would recommend all to read this book; it's small, but chock full of inspiration and encouragement!!!) She gives accounts of how a new Christian, not five minutes old in the faith, longs to have a fellow convict told of Christ. She tells of how God used difficulties to grow her faith.


Corrie feared God, loved God, served God, and believed God to be faithful; and He used her in many ways to reach His people. Through her pain, she could reach out and heal other's hurting spirits. She was able to minister to prisoners who were closed and hateful to all others, because she, too, had once been a prisoner.


Throughout her years of laboring for the Kingdom of God, the wrongs done to her were continually brought before her. God wanted her to forgive. And more than forgive, He wanted her to love those who had done her ill; to bring them comfort and the Gospel of Peace. She wrote to her queen, asking for amnesty for a former prison guard who had been horribly cruel to her and her sister, whom she loved dearly. The man had become a Christian, and she knew God had forgiven him, but she struggled to forgive. She explains it this way:
"Suddenly I see what I am doing. Carl's sins have been cast by Jesus into the depths of the sea. They are forgiven and forgotten-- and I am trying to fish them up again!"


And another time, in another country, she speaks to a man who is frustrated that he is not bearing fruit: who complains that confessing his sins does not seem to help them be erased,
"Where are the sins you have confessed? What does the Bible say? Your bitterness is in the depths of the sea, forgiven and forgotten, and there is a little notice which says 'NO FISHING ALLOWED.' Your selfishness disappeared like that cloud we saw five minutes ago in the sky. Your unkindness is as far away from you as the east is from the west."


Once, when feeling discouraged with her lack of abilities and want of enthusiasm, she told God that she was no missionary, and to send her back to watchmaking.
"At that moment, I find in my Bible a little piece of paper which I have never seen before. On it is written:

"'Cowardly, wayward, and weak,

I change with the changing sky,

Today so eager and strong,

Tomorrow not caring to try.

But He never gives in,

And we two shall win,

Jesus and I.'"

What a wonderful bit of poetry to remember! We must rely on Christ's strength, for only through Him can we, weak and miserable as we are, hope to succeed! There is much to learn from this humble, loving woman. Even though she writes about her work, she wants no credit. She led to Christ a "nurse" who cruelly hurt her sister when she was at her weakest times: but Corrie forgave and loved her. Her complete faith in God is an example for us all. The trials we have are gifts from our loving Father; given so that we may know and trust Him more.

(One last quotation. :P )

"The enemy could take away our material possessions, but he could not destroy our faith in God's love in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, when all earthly security was very uncertain, we experienced with tremendous joy the invincibility of the sure Rock to which our anchor is eternally fastened. Before, we had believed, but now we knew that the light of Jesus Christ is stronger that the deepest darkness." ~ Corrie ten Boom

Forgiveness Is a Balm of Gilead

I was a good grudge holder. I used to try to out last my brother in remembering offences. Many times I heard the saying "forgive and forget", but some how I could not let go of things until the offending party had thoroughly abased themselves. But it didn't come to mind that it takes two to have an argument. Forgiving does not come naturally; it must be cultivated, nurtured. A grudge can destroy a relationship, and part the closest of friends; but a forgiving and forbearing spirit can be a salve over wounds.

Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

2Cor 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

We are told many times in Scripture to forgive our brothers in the faith. God desires that His church be united and that cannot be if are ever ready to take offence and hate our brethren. We are also to forgive our enemies. Jesus did not break Satan's hold on the world by sheer might, but by the power of forgiveness and love.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Luke 23:34a Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. ...

And so, even as Christ did, so should we do. Let us apply the love of Christ to a hurting church, and a lost and sinful world.

* * * * *

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” Bryant H. McGill

“Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.” Saint Augustine

“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” William Arthur Ward

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain

“I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.” Henry Ward Beecher

Quotes of Courage

One of my hobbies is collecting quotes and proverbs on various subject. Here are a few I have found on courage.



It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
~Theodore Roosevelt
From a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
~Sir Winston Churchill

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
~Sir Winston Churchill


Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm
~Sir Winston Churchill


One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
~Sir Winston Churchill


And here are a few that I copied off a friend's blog. :P

A Professional Soldier understands that war means killing people, war means maiming people, war means families left without fathers and mothers...Any soldier worth his salt should be anti-war. And still there are things worth fighting for.
~General H Norman Schwarzkopf (Gulf War I)


But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them,glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
~Thucydides

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
~Plato

Though still insightful, that last one is sadly ironic, as this man never saw the Great Light that was the Light of men.